Three times a year in the CMC (Cozy Minimalist (CoMi) Community) we celebrate progress. Here are some of my favorite before and afters from our spring CoMi Awards. Join us and your room can be next!

Jessica’s before and after

Hailey’s before and after

Carrie’s before and after

Sarah’s before and after

Phoebe’s before and after

Greta’s before and after

We are relaxed during the summer–it’s the perfect time to join and ease into baby-stepping your way into big change in your home. Join now for just $9 your first month!

Or stay for every season and save $30 off your annual membership.

And if you are ready to put the time in for bigger results–all the steps are ready for you to implement immediately. Choose your own adventure!

wayfair memorial day sale

The post Before & Afters from The Cozy Minimalist Community appeared first on Nesting Place.

Today I thought I’d share my current top ten things I’m loving. For things with links, click the image of the item to see more.

The post My Almost Summer Top 10 appeared first on Nesting Place.

Chad and I went to Aruba last week for our 31st anniversary. This is our second time going, so I had an idea of what to pack – but one thing I’m trying to be better at is packing what I truly need.

I watched a lot of Natalie’s Instagram Reels so I could learn a smarter way to pack. We spend most of our time at the beach, or in very casual outdoor situations, along with some nice dinners. I did what she said and started with three pairs of shoes.

Then I checked out some other people following the Sudoku method – here are some examples and how you can put outfits together from 9 main pieces…

The above image and the one below are from @jennys.looks, follow her on IG here

See how the Sudoku method works? Once you have your basic 9 pieces that coordinate, you should be able to mix every top, with any bottom and any layer to get a bunch of outfit combos – add shoes and an accessory to really change it up.

Here are my sudoku grid basics. 

This was strangely fun!!! Three tops, three bottoms and three layering pieces. Actually, I didn’t pack that bottom right toile gauzy layer – and I regretted it. Here’s what I learned.

this was my airplane outfit there and back

1. It’s SO helpful to have a framework and an idea of how many tops and bottoms are truly needed in order to mix and match. In the past, I would have just packed as much as humanly possible. 

Plus, thinking ahead about activities gave me confidence to pack things I would actually wear – for example I had just found a cute second hand beachy dress for $6 but I had something similar (that I took and didn’t wear!) In my past, I would have taken BOTH dresses and still worn none.

2. The three pairs of shoes limit was also amazing. I trusted others –surely if they can do 10 days in Europe with 3 pairs of shoes, I can do 6 days in Aruba. Guess what, I could have done 2 pairs if I wanted! Last year I took my tennis shoes – I wear them a lot at home, but I realized I didn’t need them at the beach.

3. Patterns and colors are easy and fun to match if you make sure the undertones are the same. Just like if you are pairing patterned pillows on a striped sofa – as long as every thing has the same undertone, you’re good. For my clothes in my sudoku grid, everything had a pure white undertone and I could wear any top with any bottom with any layer! Next year I’m going to look for a beach bag to replace the blue floral and a swimsuit that also has a pure white undertone (see below those are off white) and that will allow me to feel more put together and wear my suit with bottoms if I want.

4. Layering pieces are KEY! Even at the beach–maybe especially! I wore both the white linen button down and the green striped button down OFTEN. The white one ended up looking dirty by the end of the week–I should have obeyed and taken ONE more layer, which would have been that thin toile button down – it’s got a white undertone/background and would have worked with all my pieces! Who would have thought?!

I took two cover ups (the animal print–love it because it doesn’t change color when wet, it dries quickly and can look like a dress) and a blue net dress/coverup that I didn’t wear.

I also took a gorgeous easy to wear teal dress that I ended up wearing three times because the other dresses I took felt complicated compared to this one with an open back. No link, sadly, it was second-hand. (UPDATE: found it on Amazon in lots of colors!)

I also didn’t wear an extra skirt (not in the grid – I panic packed it!) and a short blue dress I thought I would need, but didn’t.

A lot of my clothes are older or second hand, but here are a few items that I would take back today if I were going:

1. Tevas: comfy, look cute with a dress and I waded in the ocean with them
2. Beads: $15! The only jewelry I packed
3. Super goop matte sunscreen: I only applied once a day (I also wore a hat) and my face got zero sun and no freckles–what I wanted
4. Wrap/towel/blanket/skirt: dried super fast, took it with me everywhere
5. Blow up floatie: folds flat, Chad and I both had one we used it in the ocean and the pool, you can sit or lay on it!
6. Acure dry shampoo: I’m not ashamed to tell you that I didn’t wash my hair once on this trip.
7. American Fantasy: I’m over half done, such a fun read for a trip!
8. One piece suit: has a cute corset back! super comfy
9. Justine Basket Bag by Sezane: I splurged on this last year and LOVE it, I use it all spring and summer, it makes every outfit feel fresh – even when I’m not on vacation. It has an inner bag and two types of handles.

The post How I Packed for Vacation appeared first on Nesting Place.

Wayfair’s Way Day 2026 is a three-day sale running from Saturday, April 25 through Monday, April 27, 2026.

The sale features up to 80% off, free shipping sitewide, and new daily deals every 24 hours–yee haw! You can click on any graphic to see those specific links OR click here to see all my Wayfair Favorites.

I’m a Wayfair affiliate, if you purchase through my link, I receive a small commission, I choose what to link to and these are things I love…

The post Wayday Favorites appeared first on Nesting Place.

Before hurricane Helene we had these steps to nowhere. We talked about putting a patio here but the tree was a black walnut and dropped huge heavy fruit/nuts and they are ginormous and also stain things when you step on them. Putting a patio there meant taking down a big healthy tree which we didn’t want to do.

Then the hurricane took the tree (and lots of others) down for us. Patio time.

from the upstairs window
 

I had patio furniture arriving before it was even finished.

My goal was to get enough seating for 20ish without having to babysit pieces and cover them up if it rained. I focused on teak (that big table)…

…polywood (the white stackable chairs), polyethylene, and all weather wicker (captains chairs). The woven chairs really ground the patio, kind of like an upholstered piece does for a room. Since the cushions are small, I usually leave them out. Here are the links.

I had four wood folding chairs that weathered well, and a marble bistro table that loves being outside.

We purchased four polyethylene Adirondack chairs (foldable with cup holders) –these are everyone’s favorite place to sit and they circle our Solo Stove.

We grabbed a grate from our oven and popped it on the Solo Stove. This is where we cook steaks now–they turn out perfect.

The only “decor” is a few urns. I hesitated to share photos this early because I don’t have any flowers yet, but I wanted to share our progress.

Oh, I have some stone birds and a St. Francis statue, too!

We also added an arbor and a pair of obelisk trellises – I’m still debating their location.

I loved this style and size but they didn’t come in white so I painted them.

We are loving our new patio–it feels like our favorite room of the house. And the best part is it’s zero maintenance.

click here for links

and these links 

The post Furnishing Our Backyard Patio appeared first on Nesting Place.

We’re the parents of the groom and we got to host the wedding at our house!

photo by Mady Noel Photo

My dress: SOOOOO comfy, I have it in 3 colors, this one was $39!!!

LOOOOVED this dress for the rehearsal, and my clutch

Hosting this wedding was one of the HIGHLIGHTS of my life (along with hosting the bridal shower!!). I highly recommend it!

photo by Mady Noel Photo

Want all the details, photos & videos?

Maybe you’re hosting a big event, or a wedding, maybe you want ideas for a bridal shower, maybe you’re the bride or the mother of the groom, maybe you’re just curious and love wedding details. I’ve got you. 

I created three deep dive videos in the Cozy Community where I go through Hosting a Bridal Shower, Prepping Our Property and Hosting an At Home Wedding.

photo by Mady Noel

In Hosting a Wedding at Home I answer all the questions asked by the Cozy Community like:

• How many people, parking, catering
• Who paid for what
• How to have a guest focused wedding (it worked!)
• Exactly how much stress this caused
• Tips for getting your own house ready to host
• The unique wedding day
• Front yard welcome reception
• Goals of the bride and groom
• What I focused on, what I didn’t worry about
• What the Bride & Groom are doing next & where they’ll live
• The rehearsal and dinner
• What we hired out, what we did ourselves

In Hosting a Bridal Shower I cover:

• Simple crowd-pleasing shower drinks
• All about our make and take flower arrangement favors with links
• How to create a ruffled tablescape
• The only shower game you need (with a secret goal)
• Hosting a shower that even introverts will love
• Ideal schedule of a shower

In Prepping Our Property I cover topics that will help you get your place ready for any event:

• Why zones are everything how to create them
• What we prioritized
• What we bought

Each topic is packed full of videos and photos you’ve never seen from every step of the way. Plus when you join the Cozy Minimalist Community you receive EVERYTHING, not just the wedding stuff.

Use code: COZYWEDDING to save $30 on your annual membership.

I’d love to have you be part of our private decorating club: The Cozy Minimalist Community: it’s where I teach weekly, share behind the scenes, and you get access to all my classes and our community facebook page (it’s the BEST!) 

This time next year, your friends will all comment on 
your simple, welcoming home.

The post A Cozy Minimalist Wedding appeared first on Nesting Place.

There’s a tiny little room tucked in the corner between the laundry room and the guest bathroom. We call it the snug.

Last week on Instagram I shared this reel about the snug, but I wanted to share more information here today.

First, the color: Sherwin Williams Pewter Green (see all my paint colors here).

Next, the drapes. They are one of my best second-hand finds EVER.  I found THREE 14 foot long panels of striped velvet drapes at an antique mall in Georgia. I bought them in the summer of 2023 for $50 per panel. Sadly there were only three, but the fabric was doubled over, so I knew I could have a seamstress take them apart and make SIX fourteen foot panels if needed. Reader, they were not needed, but later I did have someone take one panel apart to make two –and shorten them.

At the time, I had no idea where I would use them, but the color was one of my Personal Neutrals (House Rule #84) so I bought them. 

As I was checking out, the store owner told me they were from the set of the Jungle Cruise with The Rock and Emily Blunt. I went home and stood twelve inches from the TV with my phone at the ready like a deranged stalker watching the movie.

There’s a scene where Emily Blunt’s character is trying to hide in this tall, glorious old room and there are my drapes! She has to make a quick escape and she ends up falling out of the window WITH THE DRAPES–now I know why they didn’t line the drapes, but used the same fabric on the back! 

My drapes are basically a main character!

I had the Roman shades made through Two Pages, highly recommend.

This dresser is the first piece of furniture Chad and I bought together – 31 years ago. I think we paid $375 for it, second-hand. I’ve always loved dark wood and still do. It’s one of my Timeless Classics (House Rule #23).

Here’s our little view–actually, it’s my cat Francie’s view.

The loveseat is an Ikea loveseat, I had a linen slipcover made here. The lamp bases are from At Home, the shades are from Target.

The bigger marble table is from World Market and the little ottoman is fromLulu and Georgia.

Pretty much everything else is from Wayfair.

Speaking of Wayfair, it’s their annual President’s Day Sale! That little round table is less than $75 and the side tables are less than $80. 

click any graphic to see all the links

The post The Snug appeared first on Nesting Place.

We have one bathroom on the first floor and it’s by far the cutest, most put together bathroom in the house.

When we moved in, I knew I wanted to have this bathroom feel grown up, my style and like it recognized it was in a 120 year old home. 

We replaced everything except the tub, shutters, floor, the brass towel rack and the door.

We added bead board over the plaster walls and added all new trim painted in SW Gossamer Veil. I painted the outside of the tub black, ordered a new hand held shower, toilet, sink and faucet.

here’s the before

We replaced the overhead light, added sconces and a new mirror. PHEW! Here are the links if you need them:

1. Toilet: If a toilet can be classic and beautiful, then this is it. I’ve purchased it three times and regretted it when I “saved” $200 and bought an ugly one.
2. Rug
3. Bridge faucet: polished chrome!
4. Tub Faucet with Shower: I have 2 of these and LOVE them, I get to sit in the tub and wash my hair! Yes please! (polished chrome)
5. Pedestal sink

1. Pendant light: On clearance!
2. Sconces: Polished chrome of course!
3. Mirror: Wayfair doesn’t sell it anymore and I can’t find it. This is a great option.
4. Milk & Honey Bath: THE BEST
5. Chrome tub caddy
6. Toilet paper holder

isn’t this bar of soap with the sponge melted in so cool?!

I saw someone on Instagram put all of their sample perfumes in a bowl in their guest bath and I completely copied them. I added some quartz rocks to fill in the gaps.

1. Marble candlestick holder
2. Monogrammed linen hand towel
3. Cotton Crochet towels
4. Towel bars
5. Small marble tray
6. French hand soap
7. Sea sponge soap
8. Wall soap dish & cup holder
9. Bobbin side table: mine is vintage
10. Wall vase & hook: I bought mine here. I’ve seen lots of copies but so far they look awful, don’t waste your money

My plant has been happy living on the tub caddy for two years now. 

Curious about my other bathrooms? This week in the Cozy Minimalist Community I’m hushing my primary bathroom. It’s massive. It’s from the 1980s and it needs work, but it’s super functional.

*affiliate links used in some places, xo

The post All About Our Guest Bathroom appeared first on Nesting Place.

Our bedroom is huge.

It’s not finished (I still need to have the trim painted and I want patterned drapes!) but I already love it.

Normally, my challenge in a room is to get the functional pieces in a small room without junking it up too much. Big rooms are the opposite.

It’s tempting to try to fill up a big room like our bedroom, but once I got the main pieces in place I realized it felt so peaceful. It’s pretty much always clean, I didn’t want to mess that up. The new challenge was to create coziness in a bigger space without adding a bunch of extra stuff.

1. I focus on pairs.

Whether our room is big or small, I’ve always found that having a pair of twin nightstands, a pair of twin lamps and a pair of twin decorative pillows works wonders. 

I used to try to shop my house and make a mismatched pair of surfaces and lamps work, but my room turned into a hodgepodge weird space that never felt put together. I’d just keep the door closed when people were coming over. I was breaking House Rule #56: Twins, Not Friends.

1. Floral block print pillows (under $20 for 2!)
2. Blue block print pillows
3. Iron upholstered bench
4. White lamps
5. Wood nightstand (50% off) and this (under $140)
6. Whipstitch shade lamp
7. White dresser or similar from wayfair under $250

bed (target) 
bed (similar)
sofa: purchased from the previous owners, see image down below
carpet: read more about it here
rug: I LOVE this rug, I have it in 2 rooms: under $350
lamp: I invest in nice lamps

2. I LOVE my main pieces.

House Rule #40 is Hate the Sofa, Hate the Space.

And what it really means is, if you hate the biggest piece of furniture in whatever room you are decorating–dining table for the dining room, sofa for the living room, bed for the bedroom–you’ll work a lot harder to create a room in the style you love because you’ll try to “hide” the piece you hate.

Ask me how I know. 🤣

We are lucky today!!!

Even ten years ago, when I purchased my bed, it was WORK to find a decent looking bed for under $1000. Today? There are amazing looking beds for just a few hundred dollars! Once you find something you love, you can enjoy it for years and years, especially if you choose a timeless silhouette and neutral fabrics. Which is why I went for a wingback bed in black velvet. 

Our dressers are classic Jenny Lind style, our sofa has a name: camel back. The coffee table is about ten years old, a simple marble top on metal legs. (this would be a great alternative for under $200.)

see all the links here

3. I mix textures and patterns.

This is what brought my room together. I had to stop fighting that big pattern on the sofa and be brave enough to pair it with a tapestry, broken stripe, chevron and block print. THAT’s when this room came together. This big empty space needed prints: House Rule #85 Pattern Fills a Room.

Here you can see the sofa in the living room when the previous owners lived here.

1. Linen Duvet Cover (we have this on every bed in our house)
2. Hawthorne rug: I LOVE this rug, I have it in 2 rooms: under $350
3. Blue pillows
4. Brown pillows (under $20 for 2!)
5. Cotton black and white blanket (we have 3 of these, they wash up great!)
6. Long lumbar pillow cover: into the woods mint
7. Striped throw (sold out) I like this option and this option

A simple, beautiful bedroom isn’t empty. Yuck.

It’s edited on the regular.
It’s intentional.
And it’s designed to work for the people who live there—not just look good in photos.

I’m able to keep my bedroom under control because I purposely HUSH it at least once a year.

Now I’m to the point where my bedroom hardly needs hushing (but my closet does!). 🤓

Want to HUSH your bedroom with me? I’m doing it TODAY!

Join me and the Cozy Minimalist Community for the third annual House Hushing Challenge.

This challenge takes place within the Cozy Minimalist Community and our private Facebook group. You can join for $18 a month or, use code HUSHED to save $30 off your first year in the group.

Francie say relax

The post 3 Ways I Keep My Bedroom Simple & Beautiful appeared first on Nesting Place.

I spend more time in our family room than any other room of our house (awake time, that is). 

When my family room is cluttered it makes me feel like a disorganized slob who needs to get my life together. When my family room is simplified, I feel like a brilliant goddess who is good at everything.

Gosh, my family room has a lot of power.

Here’s how I make sure that power is affecting me in all the best ways:

1. I use closed storage (and lots of it)

I’m always surprised when I see “family room” inspiration photos that have plenty of surfaces—but no actual closed storage.

Open shelves are beautiful… but real life needs doors.

Closed storage is where the junk goes to rest. Cabinets, chests, dressers, consoles with drawers—these pieces hide remotes, cords, games, paperwork, and all the random things that we need but don’t want to have to look at constantly. When clutter is out of sight, the whole room instantly feels calmer, even if it’s a little messy behind the scenes.

Think of closed storage as visual noise-canceling headphones for your room.

1. 3 Drawer side table (under $140)
2. Arched cabinet with glass doors (under $220!)
3. 2 Drawer end table (sale under $200)
4. Marble top end table (under $100)
5. Bistro Table with marble top (under $250)
6. Jenny Lind style 3 drawer end table (under $250)
7. Chest with drawers

fringed stool, marble bistro table, swivel chair, rug, side table, lumbar pillow

2. I add small, sneaky seating + tiny mobile tables
Poufs, ottomans, stools, and little drink tables are my secret weapons.

They pull double duty—extra seating and surfaces—without adding visual heaviness.

I love them because they:

• add softness and texture
• introduce pattern without commitment
• can be moved exactly where you need them
• make the room feel cozy and flexible instead of formal

A family room should be able to shape-shift. Small pieces make that happen easily.

see all the links here

3. I give small things a “home base”

I will never stop talking about this. Ever.

A home base is a simple container—tray, bowl, basket, box—that gathers a bunch of little things into one intentional moment. Instead of keys, remotes, matches, coasters, and glasses floating around the room, they’re corralled.

One home base can replace ten decisions.

home base links

A simple, beautiful family room isn’t empty. Yuck.

It’s edited on the regular.
It’s intentional.
And it’s designed to work for the people who live there—not just look good in photos.

I’m able to keep my family room under control because I purposely HUSH it at least once a year.

I hush my family room by backwards declulttering–it takes hardly anytime and the results are astounding!

Want to HUSH your family room with me? I’m doing it TODAY!

Join me and the Cozy Minimalist Community for the third annual House Hushing Challenge. It’s not too late, I decided to leave the doors open for anyone who wants to join us.

This challenge takes place within the Cozy Minimalist Community and our private Facebook group. You can join for $18 a month or, use code HUSHED to save $30 off your first year in the group. Over half our members are annual members, that’s how valuable the group is.

The post The Secret to a Simple Family Room appeared first on Nesting Place.